Prior art bumpers have been used for both moving vehicles, and on stationary guards and guardrails, for absorbing shock and the impact from collisions to prevent injury to persons and damage to property. Such bumpers have included metal frame members, some of which have resilient members such as springs and elastomeric materials for absorbing shock. Other bumpers have included inflatable bladders, usually allowing air to flow from within the inflatable bladders upon impact. During high energy collisions, the inflatable bladders will usually undergo dramatic increases in pressure until a maximum pressure is exceeded, at which point the fluid pressure of the air within the inflatable bladders is released, often allowing air to be expelled from within the inflatable bladders.
Some prior art air bumpers are self-inflating after impact, having resilient members which will rebound after impact to cause the inflatable bladders to reinflate. Self-inflating prior art air bumpers have been provided which restrict the air flow back into the inflatable bladders, preventing shock from rapid rebounding of the resilient members. Other bumpers allow users to simply inject more air within the inflatable bladders to reinflate such bladders after an impact. However, a violent impact may damage components of such air bumpers, so that although the bumper may appear to be in proper working order, servicing and repair is required. Unlike conventional steel component bumpers which exhibit clearly visible indications of deterioration or damage after impact, air bumpers which may be reinflated by users without inspection after an impact, or which are self inflating after impact, may allow reinflation with damaged components without the user being aware of the deteriorated condition of such bumpers components.